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E.. .R 0 M L DE 1B RH PW E, H., 1% d 0 M 0 m No. 558,519. 1355511555 Apr. 21;' 1.895.

lllllllllllllllilllllllll Mdm/@asas /1 I' f" f NITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

HENRY E. PRIDMORE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE MCCORHICK IIARVESTING MACHINE COMPANY.

WHEEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 558,519, dated April 21, 1896.

Application filed December l, 1890. Serial No. 373,135. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern..- serves as a plate to hold the spokes in posi- 5o Be it known that I, HENRY E. PRIDMORE, a tion on one end of the hub. Fig. G is the rectizen of the United States, residing at Chitaining-plate for, the other end of the hub. cago, in the county of Cook and State of Illi- Fig. 7 is a view of an end of one of the double 5 nois, have invented anew and useful Improvespokes, showing the rim in section, while Fig.

ment in Vheels, of which the following is a 8 is a view of the rim in cross-section. 55 specification. A is the periphery or rim of the wheel.

My invention relates more particularly to It ispreferably made of metal and of suffi-y improvements in wheels adapted for use in cient weight to stand the required strains 1o self-binding harvesters, as a main or driving withoutthe assistance of a felly. At its edges wheel, or to any analogous use where the in the form shown it is thickened at a, so that 6o ground over which the machine has to be when being drawn over the ground, which drawn is unpacked or liable to be wet and perhaps may be filled with stones, or along soft in places and then again rough and stony. the highway with its beaten path the edges 15 Itis necessary for the main wheel of the will have sufficient strength to stand the self-binding harvester not only to support the knocks they may encounter. This thicken- 65 greater part of the weight of the machine, ing of the edges is upon the tread-face of the but it must also furnish the power which is wheel, as any thickening upon its inner face necessary for the operation of the cutting and would form a depression into which any loose 2o binding devices. Great strength is therefore dirt carried up by the wheel would fall and be required; but as the weight of the remainder carried into the gearing. The tread-strips 7o of the machine is more than sufficient to furwith which it is necessary to face all such nish the necessary traction it is desirable wheels for agricultural purposes cause the that the wheel be as light as possible. To machine to be jarred somewhat when the 25 move over the soft and uneven ground, it ground over which it is being drawn is very must also have awide tread face or rim, and, hard. The thickening of the edges of the 75 as it must often pass over rough ground lled rim, the tread-strips being placed between with stones and obstructions, the rim must these edges, thus acts to support the machine be of sufficient weight to stand the hard and prevent jarring. 3o knocks which it must frequently encounter. It is true that the rim might be rolled of the It is to remedy the faults of the ordinary harsame thickness throughout its entire width, 8o vester-wheel in these and other particulars yet this would be a waste of material, as it which will be more fully set forth hereinafhas been found by experiment that the center, that I have constructed the wheel shown ter of the rim, supported, as itis, by the tread- 3 5 in the annexed drawings and described in the plates, will be of sufficient strength when following specification, in which f rolled thinner than the edges. The rim so S5 Figure l is a side view of a wheel constructconstructed, however, or even if rolled so thin ed in accordance with my invention with as to require the support of a felly, would part of the spokes and hub of the sprocketstill, I consider, answer the purpose of other 4o wheel broken away in order to more clearly features of my improvement and be within show its construction. Fig. 2 is a top view of the scope of my invention relating to those 9o the wheel, partly in cross-section. Fig. 3 is a features. A perspective view of the hub, showngthe disks The hub B has integral with it, or rigidly attached thereto and the position of the lugs fastened to it near each extremity, disks I), 4 5 thereon, together with the apex or curved porhaving upon their outer faces the triangular tion of a double spoke placed on a lug. Fig. lugs b', which preferably radiate from the 95 4 is a diagrammatic view on the line 4 4 of Fig. center. These lugs are equidistant upon each l. Fig. 5 shows in perspective the sprocket disk, the lugs upon one disk being intermegear-wheel, which is placed upon the hub and diate to those on the other disk. These disks are preferably sufciently far apart on the hub, so that the spokes shall have a bracing pitch, and the lugs, being intermediate the spokes, enter the rim regularly from first one side and then the other, which allows the number of spokes to be lessened and braces the wheel against lateral strains.

The spokes shown are of the double kindthat is, they extend from the periphery or rim of the wheel to the hub and back again to the rim. Their apex, or bent portion, hooks over the triangular lug D upon the hub-disk Z), and their extremities pass through the holes in the rim A and tread-plate a and tighten with nuts. The wheel can thus be made perfectly true, its tension regulated, and it can be drawn up perfectly tight. The sprocket drivingwheel D retains the spokes upon one of the disks and the plateE upon the other. Should the apex of the spoke rest upon the hub-center and nuts be placed upon spokes on the inner face of the wheel, they could be made to sustain part of the weight and the wheels still remain partly upon the tension plan. It has been found, however, that the spokes must be increased in weight if the wheel is so constructed, and that with the wheel-rim made as I have heretofore described, to stand hard use on rough ground, a light spoke will sustain a wheel on the tension plan that will be lighter and stron ger than the wheel in which the spoke itself stands a direct resistance. In the tension plan also the wheel gives slightly under sudden shocks, and the operating parts of the machine do not receive the quick jars that are sometimes fatal to their operation. lVhile this is true, however, the body of the spoke, which is of sufficient weight to support the wheel, is not heavy enough at its extremity where it is fastened to the rim. This is even more true if the fastening be a nut on the outside of the rim, as the threads weaken the spokes,and as the nut is often subjected to hard knocks the ends of the spokes would be broken olf. The ends have therefore been upset and enlarged, as shown in Fig. 7. rIhe rim of the wheel in the preferable form that I haveshown could be supported by single spokes, or even by double spokes fastened in any of the many well-known ways. However, the combined use of the rim shown with the spokes and their method of fastening j ust described make a better wheel.

The driving-sprocket D is stayed to the periphery or rim A by a rod d, thus bringing the strain of operating the machine upon the rim as well as upon the hub. This sprocket also serves to hold the spokes in position upon its end of the hub. Y

I am aware that double spokes are old, and that wheels have been built with such spokes and with their ends riveted to the rim, but of the same weight throughout their lengt-h and tightened or put under tension by having the disks of the hubs loose thereon and pressed toward the end of the hub by suitable mechanism. Tith this plan, however, it is very difficult to keep the wheel true. The driving-sprocket is necessarily attached in a different way, and the spokes being riveted frequently bear the direct weight of the inachine, and with a light unstrengthened tire the wheel is thrown out of shape and becomes loose. I do not, therefore, broadly claim the use of a double spoke taking over lugs on the hub and extending to the periphery; but

That I do claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In a wheel, the combination of a widefaced rim with a plain, unobstructed, inner face, said rim being strengthened at the edges by thickening the metal on the outer face, and tread-plates secured to t-he rim between the thickened edges to strengthen the weaker center of the rim.

2. In a wheel, the combination of a widefaced rim wit-h a plain, unobstructed, inner face, the center of said rim being of uniform thickness and being strengthened at the edges by increasing the thickness of the metal on the outer face, and tread-plates secured to the rim between the thickened edges to strengthen its weaker center.

3. In a wheel, the combination of a widefaced rim having its outer edges strengthened by increasing the thickness of the metal, and a relatively weaker center, and tread-plates secured to the center portion and spanning the space between the thickened edges on the outer face of the rim and serving to strengthen. said central portion, said central portion being further strengthened by connecting the spokes thereto on two lines on opposite sides of the center.

4C. In a wheel, the combination of a widefaeed rim ,the metal of said rim being strengthened at the edges by forming raised, thickened, edge ribs around its outer face, and tread-plates secured to said rim and spanning the space between the thickened ribs, said plates extending diagonally across the rimface, whereby the weaker cent-ral portion of the rim is strengthened, and the edge ribs and tread-plates form a raised tread-surface above and protecting the central portion of the rim.

5. In a wheel, the combination of a hub, a rim, tension-spokes extending from the hub to and through the rim with their outer ends threaded, and nuts screwed on said ends, the outer ends of the spokes being enlarged in diameter to compensate in strength for the cutting of the threads.

G. In a supporting and driving wheel, the combination of the rim, ahub having a spokesecuring fiange near one end, double, continuous, tension-spokes secured at their ends to the rim and bent around the lugs on the flange, and a removable driving-gear having a central flange adapted to be secured against IOO IIO

the lugged side of the flange of the hub to to the driving-Wheel near its periphery and hold the spokes on the lugs. at its other end secured to the Wheel-rim.

7. In a supporting and driving Wheel, the combination of the rim, ahub having a flange, HENRY E. PRIDMORE. 5 a driving-gear having a central flange by Vitnesses:

means of which it is secured to the Bange of GEO. C. BLAOKMER,

Jhe hub, and a stay-rod connected at one end A. A. BROCK. 

